Landships II

That's curious. Jones/Rarey/Icks's account of Villers-Bretonneux mentions on several occasions that Britsh Tanks countered the A7Vs, without naming the type used. The last line says that a wounded officer who was being evacuated met a Tank Company officer who "ordered British Tanks forward."

But their list of Whippet actions cites March 21st at Colincamps as the first, and says that actions were few and of minor importance until March 31st, when Second Somme ended, then nothing until Amiens. Their other lists of actions by Tank type don't mention Villers-Bretonneux.

Ellis and Chamberlain say that Whippets were first used on March 26th at Mailly, followed by "several other skirmishes in the period immediately following," then, again, nothing until August.

Colincamps is quite a way from Villers-Bretonneux, about 25 miles north. Got any more details?

Another incident in the area:

The epic story of "Musical Box" was the greatest single tank action of the I World War. Whippet number 344 of the 6 Tank Battalion with the crew of three: Lt. C. B. Arnold - commander, W. J. Carney - driver, and C. Ribbans - gunner, performed a real cavalry style raid behind German lines. They moved at zero hour on the 8 of August with the rest of the troops across the country, passing the railway at Villers - Bretonneux after which they became detached from the main body of their battalion. Arnold noticed some Mark V tanks and Australian infantry of the 60 Brigade under fire of the German artillery battery. He attacked without hesitation passing in front of guns and next behind them. A machine gun fire from "Musical Box" killed 30 soldiers and allowed infantry to move forward. Arnold and his crew for the next 9 hours attacked the German rear installation, infantry, and wagons, on many occasions coming to the rescue of the British cavalry. They dispersed a whole battalion of infantry in a camp in a small valley encountered between Bayonvillers and Harbonnieres. They attacked a transport column of German 225 Division inflicting heavy casualties. Conditions inside the tank after many hours of uninterrupted action become so difficult that the crew used mouthpieces of their standard gas mask for breathing. At that time German guns entered the fight and "Musical Box" was soon ablaze. The crew baled out and started rolling on the ground to extinguish their burning uniforms. Approaching Germans shot driver Carney and took Lt. Arnold and Ribbans prisoner. The burned out wreck of the Whippet tank was later found by advancing British troops. The action by Lt. Arnold proved that great results could have been obtained by aggressively led tanks, unfortunately tying Whippets to cavalry proved to be a wrong method of employment for the formidable weapon.

The text quoted by Taz comes from "Tank Warfare" by Frank Mitchell MC page 193 and is definitely an account of action at Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918 when his tank was engaged in the first encounter between British and German tanks. Seven Medium A tanks (Whippets) were involved in the action. These were from X Company 3rd Battalion. The only number I have to hand is reported in Hundleby & Strasheim's "The German A7V tank..." as A256, which was knocked out and its commander, 2/Lt Dale killed.

Gwyn

X. Company
H-Section
A.286
A.244
A.255
A.256
E-Section
A.233
A.236
A.277
Which three of these were casualties together with A.256 is not clear.

This subject is of great interest to me, for reasons I shall come to, and I have read a good deal about it but never recall it being mentioned that any of the whippets had a name. Indeed I regard it as unlikely - the crews in question were an emergency scratch company jut thrown together and it is unlikely they had time to name their tanks.

My grandfather (Arthur Harold James Lincoln MM and Bar) was a crew member in Harry Dale's tank. The third crew member was called Hebert (I believe Herbert was the driver). Harry Dale is buried at Crucifix Corner Cemetery less than a kilometer from where he was killed. I have been to Crucifix Corner Cemetery and noticed an entry in the visitors' book there made by Harry's Great nephew (John Dale) and have gone on to contact him and to meet him and walk the area behind the cemetery, where Harry was killed and my grandfather and Herbert both wounded and taken prisoner.

Accounts of this incident have to be treated carefully. Many of them (including the account in the Official History) are inaccurate.

In another coincidence, Harry Dale's niece worked in a bank with Mitchell (who was an eye witness to the incident) without knowing whom he was until too late. I have heard it said (I don't know whether this its true) that Mitchell was the last surviving Tank Corps officer.

Incidentally, I do not believe that the Whippets actually shot at the A7V. Indeed it would appear that they did not even know they were being attacked by the A7Vs. Harry Dale's whippet may have been knocked out by an A7V, in which case it was probably the first tank in history to be COMPLETELY knocked out by another tank, as opposed to damaged.

I've listed all the info I've so far found on Whippets here, it may be of interest.

http://landships.googlepages.com/whippets

just follow the links.

Note that this info is primarily taken from the Transcripts of 3rd, 6th and 9th Tank Battalions' War diaries available form Bovington.